Web controlling apparatus



E.' J, sMl'rH was coN'TRoLLmG APPARATUS Filed Jan. :5. '1930 2Sheets-Sheet 1 i ll : ATTORNEY plm 6, 1932,.,-

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Patented Dec. 6, 1932 UNITED STATES P'ATENT oFFlcE ERNEST JAMES SMITH,OF FLEET STREET, LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOB TO GOSS PRINTING PRESSCOMPANY, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS WEB CONTROLLING .APIARATUSLApplication led January 3, 1930, Serial No. 418,379, and in GreatBritain January 11, 19529.

The present inventi'onrelates web controlling apparatus and moreparticularly to an improved web controlling apparatus for use inconnection with high speed rotary printing machines. n

Objects and advantages of the 1nvent1on will be set forth in parthereinafter and in part will be obvious herefrom, or may learned bypractice with the invention, the

same being realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities andcombinations pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention 'consists in the novel parts, construction,arrangements,combinations and improvements herein shown and described.

The accompanying drawings, referred'to herein and constituting a parthereof, illustrate one embodiment of the invention, and together withthe description, serve to explain the rinciples of the invention.

Of the rawings:

Figure l is an end elevation, with certain parts broken away, of thepresent preferred embodiment ofweb controlling apparatus andillustrating the present invention; and

n' Figure 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1,with certain parts `broken away.

The present invention provides a web con- 3o trolling mechanism fortensioning the web as it is ldrawn from a web roll and fed to a printingpress, and has for its particular ob- Tqect the provision of a simple,reliable web controlling mechanism which will not' interfere with theoperation of replenishing the web rolls as they become exhausted.Another object of the present invention is the provision of a webcontrolling mechanism producing a substantially constant predeter- 40mined web tension, regardless of the diameter of the web roll and yetpermitting the constant tension to be readily varied to meet differentpress operating conditions.

Accordmg to the present preferred embodiment, illustrating theinvention, there is provided a web roll support for rotatably supportingthe relatively large and heavy rolls of paper commonly used to supplythe printing press, and means are provided for raising and lowering theweb roll support,

as well as for holding the web roll support in any desired position,thereby enabling the web roll to be lifted from a truck into runningposition. F ,or tensioning the web as it is drawn from the web roll bythe printing press, there are preferably 4provided a plurality offlexible friction members or belts, rigidly secured at their lower endsdirectly beenath the web roll, and fastened at their upper ends tomovable rollers above the web roll. Means are'provided for pressing theflexible belts into contact with the web roll and for maintaining thebelts incontact with the periphery of the web roll, and in the presentembodiment there is provided a weighted arm and gear connected with therollers to which the uppervends of the'y belts are fastened, which movesthe rollers, winds the belts on the rollers as the web roll wears down,and thereby maintains thetension of the web constant. Other means areprovided for retaining the weighted arm in a raised position to relievethe tension on the belts, and to permit the fastening means for thelower ends of the belts to be displaced from its normal position,thereby facilitating the replacement of the web roll; In the embodiedform, the weight for tensioning the belts is ininutely variablypositionable on its supporting arm and thereby enables Athe constanttension created by the belts to be readily varied to suit the differentoperating conditions of the press. Means are also preferably providedfor variably positioning the web roll' transversely of the line of feedof theweb to register the web with the cylinders of the printing pressto which the web is fed.

It will be understood that the foregoing general description, and thefollowing detailedl description as well, are exemplary and 90,

explanatory of the invention but are not restrictive thereof. Y

Referring now in detail to the accompany# ing drawings showing thepresent preferred embodiment'and illustrative of the present 95invention, the web roll supporting means preferably comprise a pair ofsupporting arms 10 slidably keyed to a supportingv shaft 11 extendingfrom one' side frame 12 of the press to the other side frame 13.Supporting suitable means,

` gularly suitable bearings near the ends of the arms 10, v,each pair ofspindles being adapted to engage a web roll at either end of its axialaperture. -Arms 10 are preferably slidable along their supportin shaft11 to accommodate web rolls of di erent Widths, and are securely held-`in the desired position by any such as set screws, or the like. Forfacilitating the replenishment of web rolls, as they become exhausted,the suporting shaft 11 and armslO carried therey, are'preferablyangularly movable to raise and lower the web rolls, thereby enabling webrolls -to be lifted from the truck 18 on which they are brought to thesupporting mechanism, as needed. These means preferabl comprise asegmental worm gear 20, rigid y fastened to one end of the supportingshaft 11 and movable therewith, the segment meshing with a Worm 21rotatably journaled in a bracket 22 mounted on the upright side frame12. For turning the worm to anl move the web roll supporting arms, thereis provided a bevell gear 23 meshing with bevel gear 25 fixed to theworm shaft 24 and movable therewith, and handle 26 is provided connectedwith the bevel gear 25 for manually turning the worm. The worm and wormgear also serve to lock andfho'ldt` the web rol supporting armsl in anydesired position.

Preferably, and as embodied, one of the rotatable4 spindles 16, for eachweb roll is axially movable to allow the stub of an exhausted web rollto be removed and replaced by a fresh web roll, and other meansrarepreferably provided for holding thespindle in.y engagement with theaxial aperture of the "web rollwhile the Web roll is actively supported.The details of these parts are not shown,'='`as;they form no part of thepres-r ent invention, and they may be of any convenient or suitableconstruction.

For registering the web with the cylinders ofthe printing'press the webroll supporting l arms are preferably movable axially of the web roll,and in the present embodiment, the supporting shaft 11v is slidably`mounted in its journals' in the side frames 12, and 13 and is moved toand held in any'desired position by means of threaded shaft 27, whichcooperates with an internally threaded portion of the shaft 11, whileshaft 27 is held against axial movement'inA its supporting bracket 28.Directly beneath segmental gear v2O is provided a., hannel 29 in Vwhichthe lower part 30 of the worm segment rotates, and which holds thesegmental worm gear against axial movement, permitting 1t #depending Theweb tensioning means 1n accordance with the present invention preferablycom prises a plurality of iexible friction members, or belts 32, adaptedto bear against the` periphery of the web roll and to be maintained inContact therewith. These belts are preferably suitably spaced apartalong the web rolls and are secured at their lower ends to anchoringarms 34, pivotally mounted on the rigid base 35 and extending beneaththe web roll for a considerable distance. Anchoring arms 34 are eachprovided with an inwardly extending portion 36, cooperating with a' stop38 to limitthe upward movement of the arms and belts. The upper ends ofthe flexible belts 32 are firmly at tached to the periphery ofindividual rollers l39 and adapted to be wound thereon.

For tensioning the web and maintaining the tension substantiallyconstant regardless of the diameter of the web roll, means are providedfor maintaining the flexible belts in frictional Contact with theperiphery of the web roll and for pressing them into contact therewithwith a definite.. and predetermined, although easily variable pressure.As embodied, for each web roll there are provided a plurality of rollers39 fixed to a shaft 40 directly above and parallel with the axis of thecorresponding web roll, the shafts being rotatably journaled in pairs ofarms 4 1, oscillatably supported by means of"shafts42 extending from oneside frame to the other. The upper ends of the belts are fastenedtotheir individual roll-` erably alined with the piv'oted anchoring arms34 to which the lower 'ends of the beltsare attached. At one end of eachroller shaft there is provided a small` pinion l44 meshing with asegmental gear 45 concentric with its corresponding shaft 42 and securelfastened to the side frame. by bolts 46, so that as the rollersupport-ing arms 41 oscillate, the rollers 39 Wind and unwind the belts.i

For moving the rollers to maintain the belts in contact with the webrolls and at a constant pressure, weights are preferably provided toroll the pinion over the stationary segmental gea-r, vandY in theillustrative embodiment, there is provided a threaded roller sup- 1position, as shown at the right of the truck 18 on wh tially equalturning moment throughout a'ill positions of the. rollers 39, 50 projectsubstantially horizontally fromy their shafts 4Q and move through only arel-- atively small arc.

As shown in the present illustrative em;-

bodiment, the anchoring arms 34 for the lower ends of the belts 32., andthe rollers 39 to which the upper ends of the belts are fastened arepreferably so positioned, and the distance through which the rollersmove and the direction of their movement is such that the anglemeasuring the arc of the area of contact between the belts 32 and theperiphery of the web roll remains substantially constint regardless ofthe diameter of the web ro l'.

For holding the belts slackened,as is necessary when a new web roll isto he placed in running position, means are preferably provided forretaining the weights/ in a raised position, and collars 51 arepreferably provided with a notch 54, cooperating with a dog 55 pivotedabove the collar, and adapt-- ed to drop int-o and engage the notch whenweight 52 islifted into its extreme upper of Figure 1.` This slackeningof the belts also allows the anchoring arms to which the lower ends ofthe belts are fastened to drop out of the way` ich a new web roll isbefore being `engaged spindles 16 and 17.

the web, as it being brought into position and supported by the In caseof a break in drawn from the web L press, the operator can easily applyhis weight to weight 52 or the weight support-,-

ingarm 50, thereby greatly increasing they lpressure. between the beltsand the web roll and quickly bringing the web rolll to a stop.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specificmechanisms shown and described but departures may be made therefromwithin the scope of the accompanying claims without departing from theprinciples of the invention and without sa criicing its chiefadvantages.

What I claim is 1, ,f

1. Web controlling mechanism for use with printing presses including 1incombination `anmilarly movable arms febr rotatably supporting a. webroll and means lfor tensioning the web as it is drawn from the web rollby the press including a ieXible/firiction belt adjacent to the axis ofthe varms to bear against the periphery of the web rolll, a roller towhich the belt is fastened, a wfeigllkited arm and gear connected withthe rolfler fior turning the roller for maintaining the belt\ in contactwith the periphery of the web rll and lmeans for raising and loweringthe angnlarly movable arms. V

2. Web controlling mechanism for use with printing presses including'fin combination angularly movable arms foil' rotatably supthe threadedarms:

l\porting a web roll andmeans for tensioning.

web` roi-1a by Sjtjonabfg weight for turning the'roller to maintain hebelt in constant engagement with the periphery ofthe web roll and meansfor raising and lowering the angularly movable arms. i i .c

3. Web controllingr mehanism for use with printing presses including in'combination means for rotatably s` "qpting a Wb 1`0 11 and means fortensioning\the web as it is drawn from the web roll by thepress,1ncludaflexible belt adapted to bear ,gainstthe periphery of theweb roll, a vsuppali" t0 Whlch one end of the belt is fastened ting thesupport to be moved out of\- e Pth of a web roll as the web roll isreplenished, a roller to which the other end of the` flexible belt isfastened, a weighted arm for turning the roller to tension the belt andmaintain it in contact with the surface of the web roll `with aconstantpressure, means for variably 4 positioning the weight on thearm, and means for retaining the Weight in raised position duringreplenishment of the web froll, and means for raising and lowering theweb roll support to lift a webroll into running position.

4. Web controlling mechanism for use with printing presses including incombination means for rotatably is drawn from the web roll by the ressincluding a flexible belt, a roller tow ich one end of the belt isattached, and means for moving the roller to maintain the belt incontact 'with the peripher of the web roll throughout a substantialconstant angle.

5. Web controlling mec anism for use with printing presses including incombination means for rotatably supporting a web roll and means fortensioning the web as it is drawn rfrom theweb roll by the pressincluding a flexible of the belt is attached and means for moving theroller and for winding the belt on the roller to maintain the belt'incontact with the4 periphery of the web roll throughout a substantiallyconstant angle measured on the web roll.

6. Web controlling mechanism for use with printing presses including incombination means for rotatably supporting a web roll supporting a web1m roll and means for tensioning the web as it."

its

belt, a roller to which one end p i iso contact of the belt and web rollsubstantially constant.

7 rfeb controlling mechanism foruse with printing presses including inccmbna'tion means or and means for tensioning t e eb as it 1s drawn fromthe web roll mclru/ding a 'flexible belt having its ends attach/altosupports, one of which is a roller,

rotatably means for winding. Said Abelts on said roller to xaint'an them'in con-v tact with said roll means for movin one of said supporta/stheweb roll wears own to maintalnrsubstantially constant the angle ofcont-actbetween the roll and belts as meas`- '15 tired/,oil saidyoll.

In'testino'ny whereof, I have signed my 4name tdthis scication.

- E NEST JAMES SMITH.

supporting 4,/a/fveb roll A

